There are a two ferry operators in the Marseille port – you buy your ferry ticket right there for about 10 euro. For us, this was for sure the coolest thing to do in Marseille and a huge plus in the “is Marseille worth visiting?” question. You can actually easily see the island and the prison from the city – it’s not far at all. Made famous by the fictional Count of Monte Cristo and its protagonist, Edmond Dantès, the prison island right by Marseille is a really cool half-day expedition. If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll get to see a big protest like we did! Chateau d’If This is a must visit area – though expect it to smell like, well, fish. It was fun to watch people working on or fixing boats, bringing them in and out, unloading fish or cargo, etc. It’s really a nice area – there are lots of cafes around and the sidewalk around the port is wide and well-developed.

Marseille has the biggest port in France (and the 7th largest in Europe) and so walking around the port was impressive. When you buy through these links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

As it was, here is our breakdown on things to do, what we thought of them, and our overall recommendation to the question, “Is Marseille worth visiting?” However, there are still some really cool spots and features in Marseille and perhaps on a different trip I would end with a different impression of the city.

we had some really bad weather days (50mph winds nonstop for two days). Part of it were things that were just our bad luck - e.g. Part of it was that we found it less charming than the smaller cities we had visited, or even Nice or Paris several areas of the city were much dirtier and there was more graffiti and trash. I finally was able to make it there as part of our Provence trip, and it was… a mixed experience. A major port, and a city with a rich history and a lot of multiculturalism. Marseille – a city in France I had wanted to visit for as long as I had been taking French classes.

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